Ancient Grudges Unravelled
by Shaded Mazoku
Summary: Chasing an artefact lands Lina, Gourry, Zelgadis and Amelia in a town ruled by magichating priests. They decide to stop their reign. However, this might be harder than it seems. And a certain trickster priest seem to have an agenda of his own in the town
1. Chapter 1

Title: Ancient Grudges Unravelled  
Author: Shaded Mazoku.  
Email: 1?  
Disclaimer: Characters are not mine at all. They belong to… …Someone else. I'm merely borrowing them for my own amusement.  
Warnings: Yaoi.  
Rating: PG-13  
Summary: Chasing an artefact lands Lina, Gourry, Zelgadis and Amelia in a town ruled by magic-hating priests. They decide to stop their reign. However, this might me harder than it seems. And a certain trickster priest seems to have an agenda of his own in the town.  
Pairing(s): Xelloss x Zelgadis.  
Fandom: Slayers.

Zelgadis was starting to think that insanity was a genetic trait. He certainly couldn't think of any other reason why he'd let himself get dragged along on yet another of Lina's crazy quests. Even though he reluctantly admitted to liking Lina and the gang, it seemed to be a rule that any journey he'd join them for would end up getting way out of hand. Usually it ended in the attempted resurrection of some evil power.

This quest was even worse than the ones they usually got themselves into. They were after a stone said to have immense magical powers, a stone that was kept inside a temple fortress by fanatical priests of some invented god, who hated magic, dragons, mazoku and everything else they saw as unnatural, which was pretty much everything that differed from the norm.

Of course, in her eagerness, Lina had forgotten that priests who hated magic would have some way to detect the use of such powers, which meant that the four of them were limited to whatever Zelgadis and Gourry could do using their swords. By now, they'd given up on the stone, and would have just left town and forgotten all about it if it wasn't for the fact that they'd seen what these priests did to the mages they did get their hands on.

A few days ago, they'd been out looking for clues in the crowds of the town, when they'd stumbled upon a public execution scene. The priests had tied their "criminal", a girl Amelia's age, to a pole, used a studded cat o' nine tails to flay the skin of off her back, before burning her alive, while telling the crowd that they were doing it to save her immortal soul.

Lina and Amelia had been sick afterwards, hiding in one of many secluded yards in town to throw up in the bushes. Zelgadis and Gourry had kept watch, Gourry uncharacteristically serious and silent. Even Zelgadis had felt a little nauseated, though he hid it well. Once they were done with their reactions, they'd sworn to put a stop to the priests' reign.

Now, several days later, Lina, Gourry and Amelia, exhausted by a day of subtly trying to gather information and discredit the priests, had gone to bed in their hideout, and were sleeping soundly. Zelgadis, however, required a good deal less sleep than a normal human, and had gone out wandering town, creating a map of hiding places and escape routes. He was good at getting around unseen, and had a quite extensive map by now.

As he turned the corner, walking into yet another of the many yards, a movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention and he stepped behind a nearby pillar to observe without being seen.

A priest walked into the yard, dressed in the black, sombre robes the fanatics wore, his hair in the customary long braid with silver clips. There was a narrow silk sash covering his eyes, marking him as a blind man, and making Zelgadis involuntarily recall another blind priest, in a different time and place. He couldn't suppress the shiver running down his spine as he realised this.

However, the cold shiver was quickly enough traded for hot anger as he realised he actually knew this priest. Knew, and hated as much as he had hated Rezo, though for vastly different reasons. He just hadn't recognized him at once, because his getup was quite unlike the one he was used to seeing him in. Especially since he was no blinder than Zelgadis himself was.

Zelgadis stalked across the yard and grabbed the priest's shoulders, slamming him against the yard wall. "What are **you** doing here?" He hissed, not wanting to attract the town guards' attention, but still wanting to convey the anger he felt.

Not that it was needed, because if it was one thing the creature he was pinning to the wall could be trusted to know, it was which negative emotions the people around him felt.

The priest gave a deceptively friendly grin. "Zelgadis-san! Imagine running into you here." He deftly removed the chimera's fingers from his shoulder with a strength someone as slender as him shouldn't have. "Most unexpected."

Zelgadis pushed him back again, knocking his head against the wall. "Don't bother, Xelloss," he told the priest sternly. "I know you must have known we were here. Or at least me and Lina."

"Actually," Xelloss said, stepping to the side and smoothing his robes, "I didn't. As you've probably noticed, they monitor the entire town, looking for traces of magic. I can't use my powers properly while in town." He flashed another grin at Zelgadis. "Most inconvenient."

Snorting, Zelgadis stepped back, much preferring to stay out of the mazoku priest's reach. Lina and the others might forget what Xelloss was capable of, but Zelgadis knew more of demonic beings than they did.

"Doesn't answer what you're doing here," he pointed out, eyeing Xelloss intently.

Xelloss kept grinning. "That's a secret."

Zelgadis clenched his hands. "You should be grateful that I can't use magic," he said, glaring balefully at the mazoku. "If I could, I'd have a Rah Tilt with your name on it."

Not surprisingly, Xelloss' only reply was his nearly ever-present smile.

Sighing in defeat, Zelgadis went back to what he was supposed to be doing, ignoring Xelloss' presence, knowing all too well that he wasn't going to get any information out of the priest unless he actually wanted to share it, which wasn't very likely. Unrolling the scroll he was working with, he started drawing in the yard they were in, taking notes of anything that might come in handy to know later on.

After a while, Xelloss came strolling over casually, leaning over Zelgadis' shoulder to see what he was doing. "What are you working on?"

Zelgadis sighed again, and turned his head to give the mazoku an annoyed glare. "You'd know if you took of that ridiculous sash you have around your head," he told him sharply.

Xelloss chuckled. "It's there for a reason," he claimed, running the tips of his fingers, which were covered in gloves as usual, though black instead of the blue he used to wear, over the fabric of the sash. "The one thing about my appearance I can't change is my eyes."

"And you got tired of walking around with your eyes closed?"

With a smirk, Xelloss turned his head just enough that when he spoke again, his lips brushed the tip of Zelgadis' pointed ear. "That, Zelgadis," he said, his voice low, "is also a secret." Smiling calmly, he turned away and walked out of the yard, the silver clips in his braid catching the moonlight and gleaming as he disappeared in the night.

Fighting the urge to throw the nearby statue after him, Zelgadis gritted his teeth and finished drawing in the yard, before heading back to the small house the four of them had "borrowed". He'd tell Lina and the others about Xelloss in the morning. A mazoku in any town was a bad thing. That particular mazoku in the same town as them was not only a bad thing, but almost certainly not a coincidence. Right now, though, he wanted to sleep. Sometimes he was willing to swear that Xelloss sucked the energy out of him.


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Ancient Grudges Unravelled  
Author: Shaded Mazoku.  
Email: 2?  
Disclaimer: Characters are not mine at all. They belong to… …Someone else. I'm merely borrowing them for my own amusement.  
Warnings: Violence, torture, sex, violent sex, bloodplay, yaoi.  
Rating: PG for this chapter.

Summary: Chasing an artefact lands Lina, Gourry, Zelgadis and Amelia in a town ruled by magic-hating priests. They decide to stop their reign. However, this might me harder than it seems. And a certain trickster priest seem to have an agenda of his own in the town.  
Pairing(s): Xelloss x Zelgadis.  
Fandom: Slayers.

Even though he'd gone to bed feeling exhausted, Zelgadis was still the earliest riser of the group. Probably because once he'd been awoken by something, in this case the window slamming shut, he just couldn't go back to sleep. Thankfully, he worked just fine on little sleep. One of the perks of being part demon, and also the grandson of a compulsive early riser. He was used to working on low sleep reserves.

He was very grateful that while their appropriated "home" was stocked only with the most basic of food, much to the rest of the group's despair, it was stocked with plenty of coffee, though. He could function with minimal sleep, but coffee made it a lot easier. It also made dealing with fanatical priests, the inability to use magic, and a town where everyone stared even worse than usually a lot easier. It even helped when dealing with severely annoying mazoku priests, though Xelloss never had the decency to show up until after the effects of the coffee had long since worn off.

Then again, Zelgadis mused, decency and mazoku only ever went hand in hand if the mazoku had a hidden agenda. The more open and friendly a mazoku seemed, the larger part you'd find yourself playing in their schemes. One more reason not to trust a friendly, smiling mazoku. One more reason in a sea of such reasons. Let the others be beguiled by fake friendliness. Zelgadis had seen with his own eyes what being mazoku meant. After what had happened with his grandfather, he wasn't about to trust anything mazoku-related. That included Xelloss.

He was on his third cup of coffee by the time the other three came downstairs, walking straight past him and into the cupboards, rummaging for food. Knowing all too well that they wouldn't be in the mood for listening until they'd eaten, Zelgadis largely ignored them in favour of his coffee cup.

Finally, Lina leaned back. "OK, I'm full," she said, sounding sated. "I really wish we had better food, though." She caught sight of Zelgadis' expression, and grinned at him. "What's the matter, Zel? You look even dourer than you normally do." ¨

Putting his cup down, Zelgadis met Lina's eyes. "I ran into Xelloss last night," he said calmly, the rage he'd been feeling during the encounter long since gone.

"Xelloss? Here?" Lina bit her lip. "That can't be a good sign."

Zelgadis nodded in agreement. "Indeed not." He shifted his gaze, looking down into his cup. "He didn't feel like telling me what he was up to, of course."

Lina grimaced. "Of course."

It was a well known fact that getting any kind of information out of Xelloss required either a crisis of some sort or the use of very high level spells. The first was thankfully not available at the moment, and the second was impossible due to the magic detectors in the town. It wasn't like anything less than the Ragna Blade was going to do much damage to Xelloss, anyway. And he wasn't likely to stand still long enough to be hit by that.

"That's bad news," Amelia piped up, looking down at her plate.

Snorting, Zelgadis finished his coffee. "Xelloss is the personification of bad news."

An uncomfortable silence filled the room, all four of them sitting quietly, thinking. Even Gourry seemed to be affected heavily by the situation. The effects of the fanatics' teachings were always tearing on their minds, even when they didn't think about it. Adding a mazoku to the mix… …It was a recipe for some sort of disaster, and they knew it.

"Think we can track him down?" Lina said after a long while, looking around the table at her friends. "I'd prefer at least trying to make sure he won't be getting in our way."

Zelgadis sighed. "I'll try," he said. He was certainly a good deal safer out among the city crowds than the other three, considering how hard he was to harm, and the fact that he could manage quite well with only a sword. Gourry was a decent swordsman even with just a metal sword, but he lacked the natural armour Zelgadis had. There were some benefits to being a chimera.

Lina nodded. "The rest of us will do what we have been doing every day, then." Gathering information of all kinds, discrediting the priest and generally subtly rebelling. They had to take care not to be caught, though if they were, the back-up plan was to fall back on Amelia's status as the Seiryuun Heir, since even a zealot movement wouldn't want to start a war with Seiryuun and its allied countries. They seriously hoped they wouldn't get caught, though.

Zelgadis got up, and retrieved his sword from where he'd put it against the wall yesterday, strapping it back on his waist. He put on his cloak, tugging his hood and mask up to hide as much of his appearance as possible. Though he'd started to give up his disguise in the towns they travelled through, he figured it safer to hide in this town.

Once he was as covered as he felt he could get, he headed out into the town, wondering just where he was supposed to look for Xelloss. The "where would I be if I was an evil mazoku priest" approach was pointless, because not only was Xelloss generally highly unpredictable, but it was also a way of thinking Zelgadis was unwilling to even attempt. He didn't want to know how a creature who could gleefully kill nearly an entire race or banter with his "friends'" lives thought.

Of course, since Xelloss seemed to find it a good idea to pass himself of as one of the fanatic priests of this town, he could technically go ask the temple guards or something like that. It shouldn't be too hard to track down a purple-haired man. The problem was that the guards were likely to take him for mazoku at the first sight and attempt to kill him because of that. Frankly, Zelgadis had no desire to attempt to explain his condition to anyone, especially not while they were trying to kill him.

He spent the better part of the morning looking for Xelloss, with no luck. Though some people he talked to claimed to have seen him, none had seen him recently. Then there was the fact that most people scowled and threatened to call the guards whenever he mentioned the priests, much less mentioned looking for one.

Finally, he decided to take a break, settling down on one of many benches near the town square to just watch the crowd and consider his options. So far, the only luck he'd had was to learn that the priests rarely left the temple alone, but usually stayed in groups. Of course, this was hardly likely to apply to Xelloss, who was for all intents and purposes almost impossible to kill, or even harm, unless you had a really powerful spell up your sleeve.

Zelgadis sighed and leaned back, his gaze flickering over the crowd around him. He wondered if they all agreed with the priests' teachings or if they were just afraid, too worried that they and their loved ones would be hurt if they didn't accept the newly imposed rules. Fear was a most effective way to control people, after all. So the crowd might be willing followers, or frightened subjects of an unwanted reign. Zelgadis made a note to ask Xelloss about that if he ever found him. A mazoku would know such a thing.

A sudden flash of black cloth and purple hair caught his attention, before disappearing in the crowd. Zelgadis got to his feet and chased after it, his stone body a great advantage when trying to get through a tightly packed crowd. As he came closer, he could see the trailing braid and narrow sash around the head, positively identifying his prey. His demon part made him faster than a normal human, and let him catch up quicker than most people would. He reached out, grasping Xelloss' cloak and tugging at it determinedly.

"Xelloss!"

The priest turned to face him. The same did two other priests and five temple guards Zelgadis hadn't noticed because he'd been so focused on catching up to Xelloss. The guards immediately pointed their halberds at Zelgadis, seemingly furious that he dared to touch one of the priests.

Zelgadis took a slight step back, letting go of the cloth in his hand. This wasn't good. While the halberds shouldn't be able to pierce his skin, there were five guards and only one of him, and though he couldn't be wounded by their weapons easily, they could still overpower him, since he couldn't use spells to get away unless it was the last resort. He directed a angry glare at the captain of the guards as the man pressed the tip of his weapon to Zelgadis' throat.

"You dare…" The captain begun angrily, but was cut off by Xelloss, who tilted his head in the manner of a blind man listening closely, and smiled at Zelgadis as if though they were close friends.

"Zelgadis?" He asked, reaching out to touch Zelgadis' face gently. Zelgadis would have hoped that he would cut his fingers on his wire-like hair if he didn't think Xelloss would enjoy that. Xelloss merely kept smiling, of course.

"I was wondering where you'd wandered off to," the mazoku continued, turning to the guard captain. "Please put your weapons down, captain," he said. "Zelgadis means me no harm."

The captain looked sour, but he did as requested, indicating for his men to do the same thing. "You know this… …Creature, holy one?" He gave Zelgadis a nasty look. "Looks like some sort of monster."

Xelloss merely kept smiling. "I do indeed know him," he informed the man. "I hired him as my personal guard before coming to town, but we got separated in the crowd."

Zelgadis had to fight not to look as disbelieving as the captain did. He wasn't quite sure what Xelloss was trying to do, but it wasn't what he'd expected. Then again, by now, he should have learned to expect the unexpected from the priest.

Leaning on his halberd, the sharp tip buried into the hard-trampled earth beneath them, the captain looked first at Zelgadis again, then at Xelloss. "Why in the world would you hire something like that?"

Xelloss looked up at the guard, and Zelgadis suddenly realised that his eyes were open under the sash. Never a good sign. "Zelgadis is a perfect example of why we resent magic, captain," Xelloss said, his voice uncharacteristically soft, another bad sign. "He was cursed with his current appearance by his grandfather, who had gone crazy from using magic."

The other two priests, who had been watching the exchange between the three in silence, suddenly looked at Zelgadis with interest rather than the initial hostility. The older of the two, who had to be ancient by the looks of him, gave him an 'everything will be alright' type of smile. "Poor young man. That must have been a hardship indeed. Well, you've come to the right place." With that, he turned away and resumed the talk he'd been having with the other priest before Zelgadis had interrupted them.

The guards snorted, but went back to trailing after their charges.

Xelloss, still smiling that infuriating smile of his, moved his hand from where it was still on Zelgadis' face to his arm, leaning on him as if he really needed someone to guide his steps. In reality, what seemed a light touch was a very forceful one, and would have left a human terribly bruised, as he dragged Zelgadis along.

"Do play along," Xelloss murmured silently, barely loud enough for Zelgadis to hear, even with his excellent hearing. "It'll be beneficial to the both of us."

Zelgadis supposed that he could pull away and run, but he had gone looking for Xelloss, and he did realise the obvious benefit of what Xelloss had told them; as his "personal guard", he'd be allowed entrance to the temple without being questioned. Besides, he wasn't entirely sure he'd be successful in pulling away, because Xelloss was a lot stronger than he was.

Though he had eased the force of his grasp on Zelgadis, Zelgadis was still acutely aware of the mazoku's hand on his arm, because even through the double layers of his sleeves and Xelloss' gloves, and his stone skin, the slender hand felt surprisingly hot, and Zelgadis wasn't entirely sure he wanted the feeling to go away, which bothered him far more than the fact that he was apparently heading into the lion's den.


	3. Chapter 3

Title: Ancient Grudges Unravelled  
Author: Shaded Mazoku.  
Email: 3?  
Disclaimer: Characters are not mine at all. They belong to… …Someone else. I'm merely borrowing them for my own amusement.  
Warnings: Violence, torture, sex, violent sex, bloodplay, yaoi.  
Rating: PG-13 for this chapter, NC-17 for the entire fic.  
Summary: Chasing an artefact lands Lina, Gourry, Zelgadis and Amelia in a town ruled by magic-hating priests. They decide to stop their reign. However, this might me harder than it seems. And a certain trickster priests seem to have an agenda of his own in the town.  
Pairing(s): Xelloss x Zelgadis.

To Zelgadis' surprise, the temple itself seemed to be ancient, even if the cult was a fairly recent one. The building was solid stone, with the walls covered in carved symbols unlike any he'd seen before. The fanatics had added tons of drapery in their favoured dark colours, probably in an attempt to cover up the carvings, but they still peeked through.

Xelloss, who seemed to be testing Zelgadis' limits by leaning heavily on him and pressing a good deal closer than what was necessary, seemed to have noticed his eyes flickering to the carvings. "Impressive, isn't it?" He murmured quietly.

Zelgadis nodded and turned his attention back to the carvings, occasionally letting it drift to the other priests or the guards, and, when that got boring, to the floor or ceiling. The floor had a horribly garish carpet covering it, in shades in mauve and pink. Amelia would probably approve of the carpet, even if the owners were unjust villains.

Even garish carpets and the why and what of justice were better topics to focus on than the uncomfortably close presence of a mazoku. As a shamanist, he had a high astral awareness, and Xelloss felt "wrong" to his senses when he was this close.

And as if that wasn't enough, there was also the fact that his body seemed inclined to enjoy Xelloss' touch no matter what he felt about the matter. The only other person who ever touched him outside of battle and similar situations was Amelia, aside from Lina's habit of hitting him and hurting her hand in the process, and she couldn't really touch him hard enough for him to feel it much, not without worrying about hurting him. Just as well, really. The young princess wanted something from him that he couldn't give her.

Xelloss, apparently, had no such problems, his grip on Zelgadis' arm still strong enough to severely bruise human skin. Nor did the mazoku priest seem to have any concept of "personal space". If he moved any closer now, he'd be walking on top of Zelgadis.

Resisting the urge to attempt pulling away, which would have drawn the guards attention, and would probably have been pointless as well, Zelgadis turned his attention to other things. His eyes fell on the robes of the priests walking in front of them. Interestingly enough, though the priests all wore the same sombre black robes, they seemed to be allowed to wear their own clothing underneath it, at least if he was to judge by the fact that the younger of the other two wore a dark brownish green shirt with a high collar, while the older, from what Zelgadis could see, wore a cinnamon tunic. Xelloss, too, wore a high-collared shirt, though his was a deep plum.

They also all wore jewelled pins to keep their robes together, though the pins were all different. The elderly priest wore a fairly simple brown stone in a brass setting, while the younger priest had a huge and tacky emerald and gold affair. Xelloss' pin was set in polished wood, of all things, a deep red gem that seemed to pulse with its own energy. It seemed oddly familiar, yet Zelgadis was fairly certain that he'd never seen Xelloss wear it before.

After a while, they arrived at a huge chamber, filled with priests, guards and other people, far more people in one room than Zelgadis strictly speaking was comfortable with. He was actually quite relieved when Xelloss gave the other priests some generic excuse and led him off down an abandoned hallway.

This hallway was far narrower than the large and fancy main hallway, and it had no drapes, and barely any light. It was too dark to see the carvings for someone with human vision, but Zelgadis' dark vision was a good deal better than most humans', and he could make out the odd shapes even in the semi-dark.

"They try hiding all hints that they didn't build this temple," he said after a while, a statement rather than a question.

Xelloss nodded. "This hallway is forbidden to all but a few select priests and their confidants." He smiled, loosing his grip on Zelgadis' arm slightly. "I think they put me here because blind priests won't notice such things."

Zelgadis snorted. "That's a flawed plan in several ways. For one thing, you're not blind."

Xelloss just kept smiling, of course, like he always did.

"And secondly, even a blind man could notice their little subterfuge. All it'd take would be a brush of fingers against the walls." Or use of extra senses, like Rezo had used, but Zelgadis was not bringing that up around Xelloss. No need to give the mazoku any ammunition in any way.

Still smiling, Xelloss lightly ran his fingers along the wall briefly. "Of course. Deprivation of one sense makes the other senses stronger. Some people hone their senses to a point where just a light touch can tell them volumes about everything they touch, be it a living being or a stone."

Zelgadis decided to ignore that. Xelloss probably hadn't meant it like it sounded. Wouldn't be the first time he took something to mean something it didn't and reacted to it in the wrong way. Usually, he wouldn't care if it was the wrong meaning, he'd just act on it. However, he'd have to make an effort to remain civil while in the temple.

"If they didn't build the temple," he said, pointedly steering his thoughts onto another track, and hopefully Xelloss' thoughts as well, though he had no idea how a mazoku mind worked and didn't particularly care to know. "Then who did build it?" He didn't want to admit any curiosity.

Xelloss touched the wall again, letting his fingers glide along a particularly intricate carving. "Mazoku did," he replied after a while. "A very long time ago." He gave one of those smiles that said that it was the only thing he was willing to say about the subject at the moment.

Sighing, Zelgadis looked at the floor instead. It was probably easier to talk to than Xelloss, at any rate. He had a sudden feeling that this was going to be one long task.

The mazoku suddenly stopped walking and pushed open a door you could barely see, holding it open for Zelgadis. Zelgadis found himself wondering if the stone door was as heavy as it looked or if Xelloss was playing games again. He walked through the door and into the rooms beyond, giving Xelloss a warning look.

The chamber itself wasn't very unsettling. It was old, yes, like all of the building, with the walls, the fireplace and even the bed being carved from the same dark purplish-grey stone everything around seemed to consist of. A desk and a matching chair had been added to the room, as had more blankets and pillows than anyone sane would need.

However, the owner of the chamber wasn't even remotely sane, and with the guards patrolling the hallways, he was trapped in a stone room, without windows, with a mazoku who, no matter how much he claimed not to be able to use his power, could quite likely eradicate him and phase out of there before the detectors could even notice the magic. Not that Xelloss needed to use his powers to do damage.

Slowly, Zelgadis turned to face the ever-smiling demonic priest.


	4. Chapter 4

Title: Ancient Grudges Unravelled  
Author: Shaded Mazoku.  
Email: 4/?  
Disclaimer: Characters are not mine at all. They belong to… …Someone else. I'm merely borrowing them for my own amusement.  
Warnings: Violence, torture, sex, violent sex, bloodplay, yaoi.  
Rating: PG-13 for this chapter, NC-17 for the entire fic.  
Summary: Chasing an artefact lands Lina, Gourry, Zelgadis and Amelia in a town ruled by magic-hating priests. They decide to stop their reign. However, this might be harder than it seems. And a certain trickster priest seems to have an agenda of his own in the town.  
Pairing(s): Xelloss x Zelgadis.  
Notes: I have no idea why this uploaded as only one sentence. Granted, I don't write that long chapters, but that was a bit extreme. chuckles Hopefully it's better now. And the next chapter will be up as soon as I get unlimited internet access again.

"I'd demand to know what you're up to," Zelgadis said, looking at Xelloss with narrowed eyes, "but I know that'd be pointless." The mazoku had proved that again and again.

Xelloss gave him yet another of those infuriating smiles and settled down on the bed, among a huge pile of pillows. "Of course," he readily agreed, leaning into the pillows.

Zelgadis snorted, sitting down on the chair by the desk. "And I'm sure you're not going to tell me why you decided to help me, either." He was all too used to Xelloss and his secrets.

"Actually," Xelloss said, pulling the clasps out of his braid, "That was mostly a spur of the moment." He tugged at the braid, undoing it deftly. He didn't seem at all bothered by suddenly having so much longer hair than usual. Then again, he had mentioned once that he was jealous of Gourry's hair. Zelgadis had to grudgingly admit that the long hair suited Xelloss somehow. It made him look more imposing than usual. Less like the grinning fool he often acted as and more like the sinister mazoku priest Zelgadis knew him to be.

Zelgadis snorted and walked over to the fireplace. There was a full log basket next to it, so he busied himself lighting a fire. He didn't really freeze much any more, and he was pretty sure Xelloss didn't freeze either, but it gave him something constructive to do. Besides, it had been a while since he had to make a fire the normal way. Usually, they used a weak fire spell to light fires, or just cooked their food on the remains of whatever village or bandit hideout Lina had Dragonslaved into oblivion that day. Zelgadis was perfectly capable of going for a long time without using magic, but it did make things easier.

Still, it didn't take him all that long to build a fire, and he found himself rather heavily aware that he was alone in a room with Xelloss, which usually spelled trouble. He looked over at the mazoku, who was still curled up in his pile of pillows. Sighing, Zelgadis seated himself a nearby couch, which was surprisingly comfortable for having been carved out of rock.

"Tell me, Zelgadis-san," Xelloss said, running a brush through his hair, "Is there something bothering you?" As usual, his voice was oh so pleasant, and as usual, it grated on Zelgadis' nerves.

Zelgadis rolled his eyes. "You mean except the part where not only have I been dragged into one of Lina's crazy plans, it also overlaps with one of your plans?" Lina was bad enough without mazoku involvement.

Xelloss chuckled to himself, putting the hairbrush away. He was still wearing the blindfold, and didn't seem to be planning to remove it any time soon. Of course, he probably didn't need his eyes to see. Zelgadis' knowledge of mazoku anatomy was a little rusty at best, and he didn't really want to think about it. Especially not while stuck in a room alone with Xelloss. He gave the fireplace a suspicious glance. There had to be something fishy about it, because the room was strangely hot for just being heated by a small fireplace.

"This is a good arrangement for you too, you know."

Zelgadis jumped, wondering when Xelloss had moved over to the couch. Apparently, mazoku speed was not considered a magical ability. Xelloss, of course, just gave him his ever-present smile and tilted his head slightly, much like he'd done earlier, in an imitation of listening intently. Zelgadis had a sudden, childish urge to pull his hair. He refrained, though. Not only was it a silly and immature notion, but knowing Xelloss, he'd probably enjoy it.

He settled for glaring at him instead. "What do you mean by that?" There was a clear note of annoyance in his voice, but he didn't bother trying to hide it. Xelloss wouldn't care anyway. In fact, his annoyance was probably a bonus to the mazoku.

Xelloss chuckled again and leaned in closer, as though sharing one of his precious secrets. "Because," he said, his voice soft, "As my bodyguard, you'll have free access to pretty much the entire complex, without violence or suspicion. If anyone asks, you can just say I sent you to do an errand."

Zelgadis couldn't deny that Xelloss was right when he said that. He had more access to the entire city because he was considered one of the cult's own. It would probably be the right thing to do to actually thank the mazoku, but for one thing, he doubted Xelloss had helped him just to be friendly, and anyway, he didn't really think he could actually manage to give him a heartfelt thanks.

Still smiling to himself, as of some joke the rest of the world didn't get, Xelloss deftly undid the brooch holding Zelgadis' cape in place, nimble enough that Zelgadis didn't even notice until Xelloss replaced it with a brooch that was a twin to the one he himself wore.

"What..." Zelgadis blinked. The brooch felt heavier than his, even though it was wood and not metal. He touched it cautiously, feeling the smooth surface of the gem under his fingertips. It was warm to the touch, and for a moment, he could swear he felt it pulse. "What is this?"

Xelloss cocked his head at him again. "So they'll know you work for me, of course. I don't have the time to run around the entire city with you. I do have my own work here, you know." He gave Zelgadis another of his smiles, but this one wasn't nearly as friendly-seeming as usual. Apparently, Xelloss was no more fond of the priests of this temple than Zelgadis, Lina and the others. Zelgadis was rather relieved to realize this. Even if Xelloss was annoying to have on their side, having him on the opposite side was far worse. If nothing else, Zelgadis respected the fact that Xelloss was immensely powerful. 

When he was this close, Zelgadis could almost feel that power running under what passed for Xelloss' skin, and it fascinated him against his will. The mazoku were creatures of chaos and mayhem, as evil as anything, but even so, there was the fact that Xelloss, to as great as extent as he was capable of, was their friend.

To be fair, Zelgadis was of the opinion that an truly evil human was far more depraved than an evil mazoku, because at least the mazoku were born like that, and didn't really have a choice to make, unlike a human who willingly chose to commit evil. As such, though he often wanted to punch Xelloss as hard as he could, he was currently more infuriated with the human priests.

Pulling slightly back so he wasn't as acutely in Zelgadis' personal space, Xelloss gently tapped Zelgadis' nose with a single gloved finger, bringing him out of his reveries. "I'm sure you want to go do some reconnaissance work," he said.

Zelgadis found himself shaking his head a little, telling himself that once they'd dealt with these priests, he was going to have a talk to Xelloss about his little mind games. They were the last thing he was in the mood for right now. He rose to his feet, and walked to the door almost mechanically. Pulling it open, he glared at the mazoku over his shoulder.

"You just want to get rid of me for a while, don't you?" He asked accusingly, watching Xelloss move off the couch to seat himself at the desk, his long hair trailing behind him.

"Of course!" Xelloss replied cheerfully, not even looking up.

Zelgadis snorted and stalked out in the hallway, deciding that the quicker he got some time away from the fruitcake mazoku, the better. He had to find Lina and the other s and notify them of the recent events, anyway.

"Oh, and Zelgadis?" Xelloss called after him. "Do bring me some new candles if you find any. The purple beeswax kind. That way, you'll have an answer if anyone asks you your business."

Wishing he could use his spells, Zelgadis slammed the door in reply.


	5. Chapter 5

Title: Ancient Grudges Unravelled  
Author: Shaded Mazoku.  
Email: 5/?  
Disclaimer: Characters are not mine at all. They belong to… …Someone else. I'm merely borrowing them for my own amusement.  
Warnings: Violence, torture, sex, violent sex, bloodplay, yaoi.  
Rating: PG-13 for this chapter, NC-17 for the entire fic.  
Summary: Chasing an artefact lands Lina, Gourry, Zelgadis and Amelia in a town ruled by magic-hating priests. They decide to stop their reign. However, this might be harder than it seems. And a certain trickster priest seems to have an agenda of his own in the town.  
Pairing(s): Xelloss x Zelgadis.

Notes: If you're confused, you might have missed out on the last chapter due to uploading errors. The full chapter is up now, and you might want to read that one before this. X3

In the end, Zelgadis ended up buying Xelloss' damn candles. If nothing else, he told himself, he could chuck them at the mazoku's head. It wouldn't hurt him any, sure, but it'd make Zelgadis feel better. Right now, he'd settle for that small piece of smugness, pointless as it was. The fact of the matter was that without use of Astral Wine, the candles would probably do as much damage as his sword could, and they were a lot easier to throw.

He let himself into the house they used for shelter just in time for dinner, apparently, and as such, he was able to get himself a cup of steaming coffee before the other three even noticed his presence. It'd amuse him if it wasn't so stupid.

"If I was an enemy, the lot of you'd been dead ten minutes ago, you know." He eyed them all over the rim of his cup, as usually highly unimpressed by his companions' manners.

Lina shoved the last of her food in her mouth and said something illegible. Zelgadis sighed and sipped his coffee, waiting for her to swallow so she'd make sense. While routine might be comforting, the routines he was used to was just ridiculous.

"Well, you're not an enemy, are you?" Lina pointed out once she'd finished chewing. "So it's hardly a point."

Zelgadis sighed again. Some days, he wondered which was worse; his crazy and ridiculous friends or the crazy and somewhat malicious mazoku. At least he could throw things at Xelloss when he felt the urge to do so. Not that he wouldn't chose his friends over Xelloss any day, but they were both crazy.

He finished off his coffee and went to get himself another cup. "I ran into Xelloss again," he said, refilling the cup. "He claims to be trying to do the same as we're trying to do." Undermine the priests and end their reign. Just a shame they all knew that Xelloss' agenda was never what it seemed to be.

Scowling, Lina shoved away her plate. "Well, if Xelloss says white, we all know he means black. Tell me what happened." She turned her eyes on Zelgadis, watching him intently.

Zelgadis related the events of the day, though he left out some minor details, like Xelloss' new-found habit of being in his personal space. He really didn't think that was any of Lina's business, and anyway, he didn't want to dwell upon it.

As he finished, Lina nodded, taking in the story. "So Xelloss is after something here, too, huh?" She frowned. Though she was more flippant about Xelloss' part of their group dynamic than Zelgadis, she knew all too well that he wasn't particularly benevolent. "Did he say anything at all that could mean he'll be getting in our way more than usually?"

"Not really, no. He said he had a task here, but apparently he doesn't think we're in his way." At least the mazoku hadn't seemed to have any problems with them doing their thing. Chances were that Xelloss knew exactly what they were up to in town. He was a hard man to keep secrets from.

Lina sighed. "We all know that if Xelloss says white, the answer's probably black." One of many reasons why Xelloss was a pain to deal with. "He did get you access to the temple, though, so I suppose we should give him the benefit of doubt at the moment." Not that they could really do much other than that; without magic, they had no way of harming Xelloss even if he did decide to turn on them.

Zelgadis nodded. He supposed that if the worst came to pass, they'd somehow make it out alive anyway. It seemed to be what they did. "I'm going to go back to the temple and get some exploring done. I want to make a map of the inside, too."

"Be careful!" Lina called as he left.

When Zelgadis arrived back at the temple, he was let in, though some of the guards grumbled somewhat. He ignored them pointedly, instead wandering off into the abandoned hallway that led to Xelloss' room. As soon as he was out of sight of the guards, he pulled out a new piece of parchment and a piece of charcoal, setting to work on a map of the somewhat labyrinthine temple.

Hours later, having spent most his time playing hide and seek with the guards and priests most the afternoon, Zelgadis returned to Xelloss' room, dropping down in a chair that creaked ominously in protest. He didn't even have the energy to throw the basket of candles at Xelloss, who didn't even look up at Zelgadis' return. Instead, he dropped it to the floor and forgot all about it.

Leaning over the nearby table, he rolled out the map and started adding the guard positions to it, writing down any known times he had for change of guards. Even after having spent hours working on the map, it was nowhere near complete. It was almost depressing.

The soft touch of fingers on his shoulder made Zelgadis jump. He hadn't heard Xelloss move, but the priest was currently leaning over his shoulder, leaning his weight on Zelgadis' shoulder. His blindfold was still in place, but it wasn't as though he needed his eyes to see.

"Not bad for a day's work," Xelloss said, running the index finger of his free hand along one of the lines on the map, carefully avoiding any smudging. He'd taken off his gloves, Zelgadis noticed, revealing surprisingly well manicured hands.

Zelgadis sighed. "It could have been better." If it hadn't been for the guards. Or his going to inform Lina. Or even buying Xelloss' candles. There was a lot of "what if"s, but Zelgadis knew better than to dwell on them. Any dwelling on what might have been would just lead to lot of agonizing to no avail. Out of the corner of his eye, Zelgadis could barely make out a smile on Xelloss' lips. The mazoku was probably having a three course meal on Zelgadis' expense already. No need to get moody and give Xelloss more to feed off.

Xelloss made a soft sound of agreement, leaning down further. As he did, his hair slipped across the tip of Zelgadis' ear, surprisingly noticeable even through his stone skin. Annoyed, Zelgadis reached up and brushed it off. "Could you please watch that hair?"

"Sorry!" Xelloss practically chirped, not sounding the least bit apologetic. He did pull his hair over to the other side, though, before putting his hand back onto Zelgadis' shoulder. It was still oddly warm. "You're missing some guard posts up here," he said, putting his finger down near the edges of what was drawn on the map. "And some over here." His finger moved to another edge of the map.

Zelgadis noted down the guard posts Xelloss indicated, though he took note of which ones it was. He knew better than to entirely trust Xelloss with anything, and definitely not with something this important. On the other hand, Xelloss did have far better access to everything going on in the temple. Though he didn't really want to talk to him, it was better to put up with having to do so than to stumble around blindly.

Zelgadis sighed softly and bit his lip lightly. It didn't really have any effect. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about that fabled 'miracle' stone of theirs, would you?" He asked, not wanting to look at Xelloss. He had his reasons for wanting to know, and he didn't really feel like telling.

Xelloss, of course, picked up on them anyway. "Oh, dear. Don't tell me you're still looking for a cure?"

He actually managed to sound surprised, and Zelgadis had a sudden urge to punch him hard. He settled for snarling at him, instead. "Not that it's any of your business, but no!" It was only a white lie. He was mainly interested in the stone because if it existed, it would likely be the root of whatever detected magic, and if it was destroyed, they'd be free to use their powers again. At the moment, that was actually more important than actually finding a cure. A cure would do him no good if he died before he could enjoy it.

Behind him, Xelloss chuckled, but it wasn't really his usual playful chuckle. There was an edge of something almost sinister to it. "I'm glad to hear that, Zelgadis-san," he practically purred. "After all, you'd be much more vulnerable as a human, and I do prefer my guards without holes in them." He smiled rather viciously as he said this.

As he spoke, he moved his hand from Zelgadis' shoulder to the chair he was on, deftly turning it around so that he was almost in Zelgadis' lap. "I," he said, his voice dropping to a half-whispered drawl, "Have a little proposition for you." Another slow, vicious smile. "One that might benefit us both. Greatly."


	6. Chapter 6

**Title:** Ancient Grudges Unravelled.

**Author:** Shaded Mazoku.

**Email:** .

**Part:** 6/?.

**Disclaimer:** Not mine, sadly. It belongs to a lot of people that aren't me. I'm merely playing with the characters.

**Warnings: **None for this chapter.

**Rating:** PG-13 at the moment.

**Summary: **Chasing an artefact lands Lina, Gourry, Zelgadis and Amelia in a town ruled by magic-hating priests. They decide to stop their reign. However, this might me harder than it seems. And a certain trickster priest seem to have an agenda of his own in the town.

**Pairing(s):** Xelloss x Zelgadis.

**Fandom: **Slayers.

**Words:** 1489.

**Notes:** Not dead yet, just uncooperative muses. They apparently don't like sharing space with the giant robots and Heartless. Also, I favour the Beastmaster translation of Zelas' title rather than the Greater Beast one. Neither is a direct translation anyway, so it's not like it matters.

Zelgadis scrambled backwards, his chair tipping over, causing him to slam his head into the table as he fell, taking a chunk of the table with him as he did. Groaning, he sat up, rubbing his head. It wasn't as though it could seriously hurt him, but it was still sore.

Chuckling softly, Xelloss bent down and picked him up, placing him on the stone bed, an underlying comment about how he couldn't break that unspoken. Zelgadis stifled a shiver. It was easy to forget just how strong the Mazoku really was. Apparently determined to remind him, Xelloss sat down next to him, touching his fingers to the sore spot in the back of his head.

"Careful, Zelgadis," he said softly, petting the wire under his fingers hard enough to make it bend under the pressure. Warmth seemed to spread from the points where the fingers touched his scalp. "Of all you little mortals, you have some of the best brains. Wouldn't do to knock them out prematurely."

Ideally, he should pull away, Zelgadis knew that. It was far too long since anyone had touched him like that, though. When you had stone for skin and wire for hair, even casual touch was not all that casual. Xelloss, though, was strong enough to make a touch felt, and wasn't exactly going to care if he cut his fingers on the sharp wire. The heat, though, was something different.

"What are you doing?" He demanded, though he didn't actually pull away.

Xelloss smiled at him, smoothing his hair, the warmth still spreading. "I am a priest, Zelgadis-san," he said, amusement in his voice. "I can heal, you know. Granted, I can only heal you because of your demon blood; it's not as though I'm a priest of light."

Zelgadis wasn't entirely sure he liked the implications of that, or for that matter, that he liked the fact that he liked Xelloss' touch. But it was something pleasant about it, and it wasn't as though yelling at Xelloss ever did anyone any good. Besides, he couldn't help wondering at what the Mazoku had said before and what it'd meant.

"What was the proposition you mentioned earlier?" He asked, trying not to lean back into the oddly gentle touches at the back of his head.

"Oh, it's just a little offer. Nothing much, maybe, but..." Xelloss smiled like a reptile, too wide for his otherwise human shape. "Before I give you the offer, I guess I should warn you. This is an offer from a higher authority."

Zelgadis blinked. "You're the Priest of the Beastmaster. The only ones who out-rank you are the..." Realization hit him like a sledgehammer, if there had been sledgehammer among the weapons of Light. "The Beastmaster. What would the Beastmaster want with me?"

Xelloss shrugged. "She tells me more than she tells anyone else, but that doesn't mean she tells me everything. Not even close." He removed his hand from Zelgadis' head and stretched, cat-like. "But I know it irked her that she could never lay claim to your grand-father."

"So it's about Rezo's blood, then?" Zelgadis didn't know why he was surprised. He had lived most his life in Rezo's shadow, one way or another. The worst part was that he doubted his grand-father had even meant it. The Red Priest was larger than life without even trying. Rezo had been gifted with more power than anyone he knew except maybe Lina.

"I wouldn't say that, no," Xelloss mused, getting to his feet.

With his outer robe off, the rest of his outfit looked much like the one he usually wore, though the colours were different. He wore his human form with a relaxed ease that Zelgadis couldn't help but envy. Xelloss was a far worse monster than he was, but he looked so human. Only his eyes gave him off, and they were easily hidden. It was actually really unfair.

Xelloss smiled, in that smug and infuriating way that told Zelgadis he knew exactly what he'd been thinking and that it amused him greatly. "Actually, she thinks, and I agree, that you have your own potential. After all, she already has a priest. You're something new and different."

Zelgadis groaned. The prospect of being intriguing to one of the Mazoku Lords wasn't exactly a happy one. The Beastmaster had never tried to kill him and the others, but that didn't exactly make her nice. From what he'd read, she was one of the more ambiguous Mazoku Lords, more interested in her own agenda than in what the other Lords were doing. In that aspect, she was probably a lot like her Priest.

"Is this the part where you say this is an offer I can't refuse?" he asked, scowling at Xelloss. He wasn't sure what annoyed him more, the perpetual smugness the priest had, or the fact that it was largely justified.

Still smiling, Xelloss shook his head. "I try to not be a walking, talking cliché. It's so predictable." He took the brooch from his discarded cloak and toyed with it, seemingly absently. "It wouldn't be a good idea to refuse, but free will is important."

Zelgadis understood that part. Mind control was relatively easy. Making someone want to do something out of their own will was much harder, and quite a few rituals demanded that the participants were willing. The implications of that in relation to an offer from a greater Mazoku wasn't exactly something he wanted to consider.

Xelloss idly tossed the brooch into the air and caught it again, proving that he definitely didn't need to use his eyes to see. "You're smart. You've probably realized that it is going to be a job offer." He flickered the brooch it into the air again. It glowed, though it didn't seem to be catching any light from the lamps in the room, nor the fireplace. "I doubt you've realized the nature of the job, though."

Resisting the urge to throw something at the smug Mazoku, Zelgadis sighed. "Do you ever give a straight answer?" He asked, catching the brooch in the air. He'd intended to make some sort of comment, but it was forgotten as the brooch pulsed in his hand, with the rhythm of a slow, languid heartbeat. The inner light pulsed together with the rest, and suddenly, Zelgadis realized where he'd seen the brooch before. A round, crimson stone set in a frame of polished wood.

Xelloss still smiled, but his smile had turned almost predatory, his eyes clearly open under the narrow sash that covered them. "I see you've realized what that is," he said, as though objects that were technically his body parts ended up in other people's hands all the time. Of course, considering that Mazoku bodies weren't truly real, it was to be expected. "I would appreciate if you didn't drop it. It has sentimental value."

"It feels like it's alive," Zelgadis said, resting his fingers on the red orb. It pulsated under his fingers again, warm and smooth to the touch.

Xelloss gave him another of those predator's smiles. "It is. Not just as a part of me, but as part of other things, too. I'd tell you, but I don't really feel like it." Another smile, this one more like his usual, sillier ones. "Besides, I've got an offer to make you, so stop trying to sidetrack me."

He moved, faster than even Zelgadis could see, pinning both of the Chimera's hands to the stone bed. The brooch rolled to the side, glowing to itself as always. "You seem to think that if I don't ask you, it doesn't count. Sadly, for you, Mazoku rules don't work that way."

Zelgadis didn't bother trying to get loose this time. It wouldn't work, and it wasn't as though it wasn't mostly another of Xelloss' games. Maybe one played with the Beastmaster as a referee. "Do I even have a choice in this?"

"Of course you do, Zelgadis-san," Xelloss said, his voice clearly amused. "Just make sure it's the right one."

Snorting, Zelgadis glared up at the Mazoku priest. "Fine. Just make the offer so I can turn it down."

Xelloss leaned in, his lips once again brushing the tip of Zelgadis' ear. "We want you to come work for the Beastmaster," he murmured. "You'd be high ranked, with options of climbing further in rank."

Zelgadis opened his mouth to protest but Xelloss interrupted him.

"And as a bonus, the Beastmaster is willing to give you the power to go with the position. Basically, you'd be half Mazoku, which you'd probably say is a bad thing, but you'd also be half human, which you might find an improvement." He paused for a moment, then smiled so obviously that Zelgadis could feel it against the tip of his ear.

"That means, Zelgadis-san, that you'd look human. More than me, most likely."


End file.
